Cub Scout Pack 95

Our hardcore cub scouts and Webelos met on Saturday morning, June 9th for a hike at Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve. Ruffner Mountain is a 1,040-acre urban nature preserve located between the communities of Irondale, Roebuck Springs, and East Lake, in eastern Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of the largest privately held 501 (c) (3) urban nature preserves in the United States. Ruffner Mountain was mined for iron ore from the late 19th century through the 1950’s. In 1896, a local newspaper reported that its mines produced over 200 tons of raw ore per day for processing at nearby Sloss Furnaces. We hiked the quarry trail that took us to the rim of the quarry and one of the best views of Birmingham.

Our next summertime activity is Vulcan District Day camp for some of our Cubs and then the Summer Soaker will be on Saturday, July 11th. Check the Scoutbook calendar for future events.

On Sunday, March 11, we said goodbye to our Arrow of Light den. Most of these scouts have been with the pack for the past 5 years and have worked hard to earn their rank. The members of the den earned their Arrow of Light rank in February, the highest rank a Cub Scout can earn. They have been terrific leaders for our younger scouts to emulate.

The scouts and adult leaders crossed over a bridge, made by our own Joe Swaika, to be accepted into Troop 95 and Troop 97. They may be gone from our Pack but we look forward to hearing about the adventures they are going to go on as a member of a boy scout troop. We also look forward to them coming back and welcoming future Arrow of Light scouts as they cross over the bridge in the coming years. We had alumni from both Troops at this ceremony and it was great to see them grow as young men and scouts.

The 2018 edition of the Pack 95 Pinewood Derby is in the can. We had a great race and a great time. Thanks to everyone who came the night before and setup and stayed to help us take it down. If you didn’t get enough racing, make sure you come back on March 10 for the Vulcan District Pinewood Derby.

Here are the winners by category. Names have been left off because as a policy we don’t name the cubs online.

At our November Pack meeting, we had a special guest, George. George is a therapy dog and he and his owner volunteer their time with Hand In Paw. Hand in Paw is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama and their professionally-trained volunteers help improve people’s day to day lives with animal-assisted therapy at numerous facilities throughout Central Alabama. George is just one of the dog’s and we are glad they could visit us and tell their story. Everyone got to pet George and they got a business card from him. If you would like to learn more about Hand in Paw and how you can donate your time and/or money, visit them at https://www.handinpaw.org.

The theme of this month’s meeting was Giving Thanks. We talked about how we give special thanks to our service members on Veteran’s day which was the day before and how the upcoming Thanksgiving Day is a way we celebrate our blessings of the year. The Scout Law tells us that a Scout is Reverent. Part of being reverent is acknowledging what we have and showing thanks for it.

We finished our meeting with another Bobcat ceremony for a few new Wolf scouts who just earned their badge. Bobcat is the first rank you earn no matter what age you start cub scouts at. Congratulations to these boys as they work towards earning Wolf this spring.

In my Cubmaster minute I gave the boys a task and one that I give you as well:

Be thankful for all we have

Be reverent by acknowledging what we have and show thanks for it

Thank our Veteran’s who serve our country and help protect us

Think about the blessings you have received this year during Thanksgiving

Be thankful every day

And now may the great master of all the scouts be with us until we meet again, Do your best!